Concentration of ores.



Bill

UNITED STATEN PATENT @FhIQE.

OBA WISER, OF HURLEY; NEW MEXICO, ASSIGNOR TO CHINO COPPER COMPANY, OF

HURLEY, NEW MEXICO, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

CONCENTRATION OF ORES.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OBA WISER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hurley, in the county of Grant, State of New Mexico, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Concentration of Ores, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the concentration of metallic ores, and especially to ores containing copper, by what is called oil flotation.

Ores containing only sulfids of the metals can, in many cases, be successfully concentrated by flotation without the use of any reagent other than oil or an oily substance.

Some mixed ores, containing minerals other than sulfids, are, amenable to flotation and various reagents have been suggested to be added to the ore pulp with the oil used for flotation, and for the purpose of increasing recovery of the valuable constituents of the ore.

Besides natural ores, it is sometimes desirable to treat certain mill products, such as vanner concentrates, containing various minerals, such as sulfids, oxids and metals, by flotation after gravity concentration, to increase the grade of such mill products by further concentration before smelting or other metallurgical treatment.

In the treatment of mixed ores and mill products, containing, for example, several varieties of copper minerals, such as sulfids, native copper and oxidized copper minerals, the usual flotation methods, making use of oil alone as a flotation agent, do not, as a rule, give satisfactory recovery of all the constituents of the ore, and my invention has as its object, the increasing of such recoveries. I have found that satisfactory flotation in cases such as above referred to may be obtained by using a resinate, such as sodium resinate, as a reagent, along with other agents, such as an oil or an oil product,

My invention may be carried out as follows: The ore or mill product, in a state of fine division and mixed with water to form a pulp, is agitated with oil or a suitable oil product, and with a suitable resinate,

- and the concentrate is removed by frothing flotation by methods usual in flotation practice.

The oil used for carrying out my invention may be one of those used for ordinary Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 27, 1917.

however, not readily Patented Dec. 1'7, 1918..

Serial in. 151,203.

flotation operation, or may be composed of a cheap crude oil or petroleum, with or without admixture of a small amount of a higher frothing oil constituent.

The resinate may be made by treating common rosin with a soluble alkali; for example, by heating together rosin and a water solution of caustic soda or sodium carbonate. The proportions may "be varied within wide limits but I have found it best to use an excess of alkili, so that none of the rosin separates when the solution cools. An excess of alkali is not harmful and I have found operation in alkaline solution generally satisfactory.

The resinate solution may be made up of any convenient strength. I have found it convenient to use a solution containing from 5% to of sodium resinate, in the case where the reagent is made from caustic soda and ordinary rosin. Instead of rosin, I may use rosin oil, the same being treated with alkali and the resulting compound agitated with the pulp and being the equivalent for the soda-rosin compound for the purposes of this process.

In carrying out the flotation operation the reslinate and oil are added directly to the ore P P, and subjected to frothing flotation. I have found in practice that good recoveries of all the constituent minerals of certain mixed ores can be obtained, following the above procedure and using from five to twenty-five pounds of oil and from a quarter of a pound to ten pounds of sodium resinate, prepared as described above, per ton of dry ore.

I have also made use of a resinate prepared by boiling together a mixture of rosin, sodium bicarbonate and water in the proportions of one and one-half pounds of sodium bicarbonate to two pounds of rosin.

While the process above described has special advantages in the flotation treatment of mixed ores, it may also be applied to sulfid ores substantially free from oxidized constituents. It is also applicable to Zinc and lead ores as well as to those of copper.

y process may also be carried out, in the flotation of some ores, by using sodium resinate, or other soluble alkali resinate, alone, without any oil or other flotation agent. The solution is in most cases preferably strongly alkaline, but in some cases,

I plete and a clear liquid produced.

partial neutralization by acid, bringing the solution nearer to neutrality, produces advantageous results.

The following is a specific example of the preparation of a resinate from rosin and sodium bicarbonate. Rosin and sodium bi- As a practical example of the cleaning of a mill product, the following results were obtained in the retreatment of rough flotation concentrate, using five pounds of a two and one-half per cent. soda rosin solution, and

eleven pounds of an oil consisting of ten.

pounds of Texas crude petroleum and one pound of pine oil, per ton of material treated.

The heads assayed 5.7% copper, the tailing 0.52% Cu, an indicated recovery of 92% of the mineral values.

When the resinate is made from caustic soda and rosin, about one part of caustic.

soda to six parts of rosin are heated with sufiicient water to make a solution containing about 5% of sodium resinate.

In the case of certain ores, more stable operating conditions and higher extractions can be obtained by the use of a further reagent, namely,sodium sulfid, together with oil and a soluble resinate. In commercial operation T have used from two to ten pounds of commercial sodium sulfid per ton of dry ore along with amounts of oil and resinate within the limits given above. Very high recoveriesof all the constituents of a mixed ore containing sulfids of copper, metallic copper, cuprite and carbonates and silicates of copper, have been obtained by this process.

Tn flotation with an alkaline resinate, T have also made use of oils containing sulfur inplace of ordinary oil reagents. Such sulfur oils give results similar to those obtained by the use of sodium sulfid and enable good recoveries to be made on mixed ores containing oxidized minerals.

The sulfur in such oils, for example, crude petroleum carrying sulfur, and the sodium s'ulfid, in the case the latter is used, constitute, in some cases, agents having a sulfidizing action on certain constituents of the ore, and may be called sulfidizing agents.

What I claim is 1. The process of concentrating metallic ores which consists in agitating the ores in comminuted form in a mixture of water, oil and a suitable resinate, and then, by flotation, recovering the froth thus produced together with its accompanying metallic particles;

2. In the concentration of metallic ores by flotation, the step which consists in agitating the ores in a mixture of water, oil and a resinate of an alkaline metal.

3. The process of concentrating metallic ores which consists in agitating the ore in comminuted form in water to which is added a mixture comprising petroleum and resinate of soda and then by flotation recovering the froth thus produced together with its accompanying metallic particles.

at. The process of concentrating metallic ores which consists in subjecting the ore pulp to frothing flotation in the presents of an alkaline resinate.

' In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at Hurley, New Mexico, this 16th day of February 1917.

, 018A WTSER. 

